Terrigeneous sediments that reach the continental shelf are often stored in submarine canyons on the continental slope. Turbidity currents carry these sediments down into the deep sea. These currents create sedimentary deposits called turbidites, which are layers up to several metres thick composed of sediment particles that grade upward from coarser to finer sizes. The turbidites build sedimentary deep-sea fans adjacent to the base of the continental slope. Turbidites also are found below the major river deltas of the world where they build features called abyssal cones. The largest of these is the Ganges Fan (also called the Ganges Cone or Bengal Cone) in the Bay of Bengal east of the Indian subcontinent. It measures 3,000 km (about 1,900 miles) long (north-south) by 1,000 km (about 600 miles) wide (east-west) and is up to 12 km (about 7 miles) thick. The Bengal Cone continues to form from rock material eroded from the Himalayas and transported by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers.

Abyssal plains are formed by the accumulation of turbidites beyond the limits of deep-sea fans and abyssal cones in locations where there is a very large sediment supply. In contrast to fans and cones, abyssal plains are flat and featureless. They are prominent near both margins of the Atlantic and in the northeast Pacific. Tectonic and climate controls have influenced the formation of abyssal plains. The last major glaciation near the end of the Pleistocene Epoch about 11,700 years ago greatly increased erosion and sediment supply to the deep sea, but deep-sea trenches interrupted the flow of turbidity currents to the ocean floor. Off the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, however, the trenches were filled by turbidites, and subsequent turbidity currents passed beyond them to form the Alaska and Tufts abyssal plains.

Brown clays are a variety of pelagic sediment, mostly of terrigenous origin, which are composed largely of four different clay minerals: chlorite, illite, kaolinite, and montmorillonite. By definition, clays have less than 30 percent biogenic components. Quartz, volcanic ash, and micrometeorites are common as minor constituents. Brown clays are widespread in the deeper areas of the oceans below 4 km (about 2.5 miles). They dominate the floor of the central North Pacific. Clays accumulate very slowly, averaging about 1 mm (0.04 inch) per 1,000 years. The type of clay found in a given area is a function of the source region on land and the climate. For example, chlorite is dominant in polar regions and kaolinite in the tropics. Clays are introduced into the oceans by river transport, although kaolinite is also carried by the wind from the arid regions of Africa and Australia. Montmorillonite is an alteration product of volcanic material and can form from either wind-blown volcanic ash or basaltic glass on the seafloor.

Sediments composed mostly or entirely of volcanic ash are commonly found adjacent to the island arcs and marginal trenches. These are normally deposited as turbidites. Volcanic ash that has been ejected higher than 5 km (about 3 miles) during an eruption can be carried by wind and settle out through the atmosphere and oceans as pelagic sediment. The ocean floor encircling Antarctica is covered by glacial marine sediments. These sediments are carried by icebergs from the continent as far north as the Antarctic Convergence at 45° to 55° latitude.

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